Wire-connector.



"Patented Feb. I|,'-|-9 02. H W WYCKOFF WIRE CONNECTOR.

(Appl t nfiledM 3 6 1901 (No Model.)

' WITNESSES:

" A 770mm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HOMER WILSON wYoKoFr, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

WIRE-CONNECTOR] SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 693,206, dated February 11, 1962. Application filed May 6, 1901. Serial N0- 58,841. (No model.)

and the object of my invention is to provide a connector, first, that will clamp the wires firmly in a locked position for ordinary use; second, that can be quickly opened without injuring the connector for testing and other purposes; third, that will serve either for connecting together wires of the same size or wires of different sizes; fourth, that can be applied to join continuous wires, a wire end to a continuous wire, or two wire ends, and, fifth, that will be simple and of few parts, cheap in cost of manufacture, and durable and efficient in operation.

My invention is especially applicable to telephone and telegraph wires of copper at points where it is desirable to open the main line at times or where it is desired to connect a branch wire to a continuous main wire, as is frequent in telephone practice. Two main telephone or telegraph wires to be connected in this manner will usually be of the same size, No. 12 (diameter .104 inch) and No. 14 (diameter .080 inch) being the two sizes of "copper wire commonly used in telephone construction. In the case of legging a branch wire to a continuous main telephone-wire the main wire will ordinarily be No. 12 and the branch wire No. 14 in size.

Heretofore several styles of connectors have been used for the purpose ofjoining wires. One of these is what is known as a sleevejoint} consisting of a single or double tube, which must be slipped over the ends of the wires and is therefore not applicable to a continuous wire to which a branch is to be connected. Another-form which may be more generally applied is of sheef-copper made in S-shaped cross-section. Both of these forms must be twisted to establish good contact and must therefore be injured when it is desired to open the connection. These forms must also be suited to the particular size of wire to grooves being V-shaped, and therefore not.

making good surface contacts on account of their not being adapted to connect at once two wires of difierent sizes,'and therefore being damaged when applied to such wires, as is frequently the case, also on account of the parts, being so complex as't'o make the, cost of 'manufacture high.

My invention, designedto overcome the difficulties mentioned, consists of two metal plates having in their opposed faces'para'llel grooves in which the wires are firmly held,

preferably by a single screw bolt passing through the two plates between the wires and locking in position by means of a lock-nut. By a novel arrangement of the said grooves,

in combination with-the single bolt, as hereagain. It is a great advantage in the art of I telephone and telegraph line construction to have one article applicable to these very common uses. The use of my device is not, however, limited to telephone and telegraph wires, as described; but the clamp is adapted to electric-light and electric-powerwires, battery connections, inside wiring, wire-fence, and wirework of almost any other description in which a simple electrical or mechanical connection is desired. The size and strength of the connectorcan of course be varied to suit the particular use for which it is intended.

In the accompanying drawings,'-.which show one embodiment of my-invention, Figure 1 is a general isometrical viewof the connector. Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional View on the line A A of Fig. 6, showing two, unequal wires clamped therein. Figs. 3 and 4 are end views showing applications of the connector to two equal wires in either case, but of different diameter in one case than in the-other.

Fig. 5 is also an end View showingthe ch'amfered edges of the holes or reamed holes. Fig.

6 shows the connector used for j oinin g a small branch wire to a large continuous main wire. Fig. 7shows its use in joining two large wires of equal size, and Fig. Sits use in joining two small wires of equal size together. Fig. 9 shows the application to a-joint under tension, in which the wires are given a supplemental-y twist at each end for additional strength. Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are drawn upon an exaggerated scale; but Figs. 6, 7, 8, and 9 are actual size for use with No. 12 and No. 14 telephone-wire.

Like parts are indicated by the same letters of reference in all the drawings.

A detailed description of the drawings is as follows:

As shown in Fig. 2, the plate a has a hole j in the center slightly larger than the shank of the bolt (Z, so as to allow some play for lateral adjustment of the grooves upon the wires. The other plate I) has a corresponding hole through its center threaded for the screwthread 7.; of the bolt. The turning of the bolt will thus draw the two plates at and I) together upon the wires. The nut 6, also screwing on the thread 70, serves as a lock-nut when screwed tightly against plate I) to prevent loosening of the contact upon the wires by wind or other sources of vibration acting upon them. The thread in the plate may of course be omitted to oheapen the cost of construction or for other purposes, or the locknut may likewise be omitted. The end of the bolt is battered down or headed over slightly, as at 7t, to prevent the parts of the clamp becoming detached and lost, and the head 0 of the bolt may be grooved for a screw-driver. The plates can, however, be separated sufficiently to allow the wires to be passed between the plates at the sides when necessary.

The opposed faces of the plates or and b are provided with grooves f and g to receive the wires. These grooves in cross-section or end view, Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, are formed with the same radius, which is at least as large as that of the largest wire to be used. The two exactly similar grooves f, however, are cut less deep in the plates, as shown, than the exactly similar grooves g by a depth equal to the difference in radii between the two wires of unequal size to be used together, as No. 12 and No. 14, Figs. 2 and 6. For example, No. 12 wire in telephone practice may have a radius of .051i inch and No. 1-1 wire a radius of .010 inch. Grooves 9 would then be cut .014: inch deeper with respect to the plane of the center lines of the two wires than grooves f; but all grooves would be cut with the same radius of arc-.054 inch or larger. Then the connector is used on two wires of different sizes, Figs. 2 and 6,gro0ve g in one plate will be opposite groove gin the other plate and similarly groovesfwill be opposed, as in Figs. 1, 2, and 6. A mark 72 is made across both plates at one end only to indicate this posiiVhen wires 12 and 14: are placed betion.

tween grooves g and grooves f, respectively, in this position of the plates grooves g will closely fit wire 12; but groovesf will not impinge upon the wire 1% at every point, but will make good electrical contact along a narrow surface at the bottom of the grooves f.

The grooves having been cut as described, the outside surfaces of the plates will be parallel, and both the head 0 of the bolt and the lock-nut 6 will have good bearing upon the plates.

The particularly novel feature of this connector is the easy adaptation of it to use with two wires of the same diameter by simply turning one plate halfway around the bolt, while the other plate remains stationary, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, wherein plate a has been turned one hundred and eighty degrees. Groove fin the plate a is now opposite groove gin b, and groove g in plate a is opposite groove f in plate b. If new two wires 12 12 are placed in the clamp, it will be seen that on account of all grooves having been cut with as large a radius as that of wire 12 the wires will come into good contact with the bottoms of the grooves, and on account of the diameter of the wires being the same and the total depths of the two grooves f and g at one side equaling the total depths of grooves g andfat the other side in plates of the form shown the outer faces of plates will still be parallel and bolt-head c and the nut 6 will have good hearing, as before. Reduction in the size of the two equal wires, as shown in Fig. 4, will still preserve the contacts at the bottom of the grooves and will reduce the clearance between the plates similarly at the two sides, simply requiring the plates to be moved closer together in a parallel position. The outer faces of plates of the form shown will therefore remain parallel in the two general cases as follows, first, when any two wires are used, the difference in the radii of which is equal to the difference in depths of the two groovesfand g in plates of the form shown, and, second, when the two wires have the same radius. In both of these cases the clamp must of course be designed so that the radius of the grooves shall be as large as that of the largestsize of wire to be used and so that with the smallest size of wire to he used the faces of the plates in the reversed position, Fig. 4, will not come into contact before the bottom of the grooves bear tightly upon the wires. The advantages of maintaining the substantial parallelism of the outer faces of the plates by this novel method of application to various-sized wires is that the bolt and nut are not injured for further use, and the uniform bearing of the bolt-head and nut takes bending strain off thp plates at and b, which for telephone purposes will be of soft copper for use on copper wire. Compression between bolt-head c and nut e acts direct through plates a and b and the wires. The removal of bending moment from the plates bygood bearing allows the plates to be made lighter fore indicated, it is preferable to make the connector with copper plates and brass bolt and nut. Cheaper metals, plated or otherwise protected against corrosion, may, however, be used. It is also desirable to roam out the ends of the grooves to avoid cutting of the wires on the otherwise sharp edges of the blocks. This is shown by the dotted line 1 in Fig. 5. .In Figs. 1 to 5, inclusive, the outer edges of the plates at and b are shown chamfered simply to reduce the amount of metal for economy.

To afford a means of stringing the connectors on a wire for easy transportation; one or more holes may be bored in the plates, as shown at h in Figs. 6, 7, and 8.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to the details of construction, I would have it understood that it is not to be limited thereto, as it is apparent to those skilled in the art to which the invention appertains that many changes, alterations, and modifications may be made therein and still come within its scope and principle; but

What I do claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a device of the class described,the com,

bination with two metal plates or blocks having opposing faces, each said face having two grooves of difierent cross-sections opposite similar grooves in the other face, of a screwbolt passing through the two plates to clamp them together, and a lock-nut on said bolt.

2. In a device of the class described,the combination with two metal faces or blocks havingopposing plates, each said face having two 4. In a wire-connector,the combination with two metal plates or blocks having opposing faces, each said face having two grooves of diflerent cross-sections registering with the grooves in the other face, of means to clamp said plates together.

5. In a wire-connector,the combination with two metal plates or blocks having opposing faces, each said face having two grooves of dilferent cross-sections registering with the two grooves in the other face, of a screw-bolt passing through one of said plates and threadgether.

ing into the other to clamp said plates to- 6. In a wire-connector,the combination with two metal plates or blocks having opposing faces, each said face having two grooves of difierent cross-sections registering with the grooves in the other face, said plates being reversible in position so that the. grooves will accommodate wires of different sizes or of the same size, and means to clamp the plates together.

7. In a wire-connector,the combination with two metal plates or blocks having opposing faces, each said face having two parallel grooves of different cross-sections registering with the grooves in the other face, said plates being centrally apertured with reference to the grooves, of a bolt extending through said apertures, whereby the plates may be clamped together in reverse positions to'connect wires of the same size or of difierent SIZGS.

8. Ina wire-connector,the combination with metal plates or blocks having registering grooves of different cross-sections in their opposing faces, of a bolt extending through one plate or block and threading into the otherto clamp them together, and a lock-nut 'upon the threaded end-of the bolt, said bolt being provided with means to prevent the lock-nut from being removed from the bolt.

9. In a wire=c0nnector,tl1e combination with two metal plates or blocks having opposing faces, each face having two grooves of different cross-sections registering with the grooves in the other face, of two wires in said grooves, and means to clamp said plates or blocks upon said wires. I

10. In a wireconnector, the combination with two metal plates or blocks having opposing faces, each face having two grooves of different cross-sections registering, with the grooves in the other face, of a bolt passing through said plates, and a nut upon said bolt.

11. The combination of two metallic plates with opposing faces and a screw-bolt passing through one of the plates and into theother to clamp the plates together upon wires placed between them, each of the opposing faces, of

the plates having two grooves, registering with the grooves in the other plate and cut to different depths measured with respect to a plane through the center lines of "the wires when the plates are clamped tightly upon two wires of different diameters lying in the registering grooves.

12. The combination of two metal plates with opposing faces, two wires of different diameters and means of clamping the plates together upon the wires, each of the opposing with opposing faces, the opposing face of each plate grooved with two grooves for the reception of wires, said grooves registering with grooves in the other plate and being cut to within difierent distances of the outside face of the same plate in which the grooves are out, and means for clamping the plates. together.

14. In a wire-connector, the combination with two metal plates or blocks having opposing faces with registered grooves, each plate or block having two grooves so formed in its opposed face that the surface of one groove is differently disposed than the surface of the other with respect to the outer face of the block lying diametrically opposite said opposed face, of means to clamp said plates together.

15. In a Wire-connector, the combination with two metal plates or blocks having opposing faces, each face having two grooves registering with grooves in the other face, of two wires of different cross-sections in said grooves, and means to clamp the plates together.

16- In a wire-connector, the combination with two metal plates or blocks having opposing faces each with two registering grooves for the reception of wires, of ascrew-bolt passing through the two plates to clamp the plates together, said grooves in each plate being so formed that one groove is differently disposed than the other with reference to a plane at right angles to the center line of said bolt, when the plates are clamped tightly upon the wires.

HOMER WVILSON XVYCKOFF.

\Vitnesses: L. A. GARDINER, ROBERT LEWIs AMES. 

